Joe Walsh Saves Eagles Concert, The World

It looks like Joe Walsh saved another Eagles concert with his superior solo material! How can a jam like “Funk No. 49” not bring down the house?

I know that the Eagles aren’t popular around these parts, but I count myself as something of a fan, despite my best instincts. I get it: they represent the milquetoast lowest common denominator corporate rock of the 70s. All I’m sayin’ is that whenever I do “Take It Easy” at karaoke, it kills. People groan at the beginning, but are on board by the end. (For future reference, my other karaoke jam is “Glycerine” by Bush. Or whatever New Order/Erasure/Depeche Mode songs are in the book.)

I think the reason I give the Eagles a pass is Joe Walsh. He doesn’t fit. Don Felder fits. Timothy B. Schmit fits, despite his high-pitched voice. But Joe Walsh…I always got a sense that he was hanging out with those dudes because it was a good paying gig. He knew he could go solo again at any time, but why bother? It would be too much of a headache. Mama Walsh didn’t raise no fool. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t hop off the gravy train. Get paid. You know you can smoke all of them on guitar. You’re the rocker of the band. Those guys don’t deserve you. But you know what? Joe Walsh songs with the Eagles sound like Joe Walsh songs with the James Gang sound like Joe Walsh songs solo. Do you want to be a member of the Eagles, who can still sell 7 million records, or do you want to be the next Boz Scaggs? To paraphrase the knight at the end of The Last Crusade, he chose…wisely.